1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that includes a printer unit that forms an image based on image data and outputs the image on a sheet and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, a copier, and a multi-function machine having these functions has a function of forming an image based on image data and outputting the image on a sheet. The function is generally realized by firmware that operates on an operating system (OS) and controls hardware of the image forming apparatus.
Further, an apparatus that can operate a plurality of OSs is known as an apparatus that processes information (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2009-223695, 2010-191543, and 2011-192130).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 009-223695 proposes an apparatus that is connected to a plurality of external apparatuses and executes processes according to a processing request and that can select whether images will be processed by hardware or software according to the content of processing or the number of processes to be executed.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-191543 proposes an emulator that includes a virtual OS1 that operates controller software and an OS2 that operates operating unit software and that handles communication between the controller and the operating unit as communication between the OS1 and OS2.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-192130 proposes an image forming apparatus that includes two OSs having different priorities and that has a plurality of OSs that allocate hardware resources according to an execution priority.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-060238 discloses an information processing apparatus such as a digital multi-function machine that has a power saving mode where only a first OS is activated and that releases the memory of a second OS during the power saving mode so that power is not supplied to the memory block of the second OS, and switches the activation of the second OS according to a wake-up factor from a network.
In the image forming apparatus, a technique of controlling the image forming apparatus using a plurality of OSs is known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2010-191543, 2011-192130, and 2011-060238). Examples of the apparatus control include storage of image data in a HDD, management of heat fusing temperature, and control of sensors that detect opening or closing of a tray or a door as well as control of scanning and printing.
An image forming apparatus that receives document file data edited by an application of an external apparatus or the like so that the document files can be output based on the data is known. However, document files are stored as files of the format that is unique to the application or of a specific format, and print setting is performed using a driver that operates on the operating system of the external apparatus. Thus, when document data of the Word (trademark) format is printed, the application and a printer driver are required, and a job is input to the image forming apparatus as output data by a printer driver included in the external apparatus.
However, in the related art, the of OS mounted on the image forming apparatus are provided for the purpose of controlling the apparatus only, and an image forming apparatus that includes an OS that handles output data (of the format Word, Excel (both are trademarks), and the like) is not known. Thus, when a user tries to change the content of input data, since only data that has been rasterized (subjected to Raster Image Processing (RIP)) is present in the image forming apparatus, it is thus difficult to perform a process such as editing output data on the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the user has to perform the operation in front of a PC in which the original data (Word) is stored even if the operation involves a small change. Further, there is another problem in that after a file is edited on the PC, the edited data has to be transmitted to the image forming apparatus again, which consumes time and effort.
In addition, in a multi-OS environment of an image forming apparatus or the like that mounts a plurality of OSs, a sleep process is turned on and off according to the conditions of the overall control of a first operating system. Although Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-0238 discloses an information processing apparatus having the power saving mode where only the first OS is activated, there is no special mention of the sleep process in the overall control.
However, if the sleep process is performed according to the conditions of the overall control of the first operating system, an engine may enter into a sleep mode with the determination on the first OS even when the second and subsequent OSs are being used. Thus, there is a problem in that the time may be consumed to warm up the engine when starting printing from the second OS, which may deteriorate operation efficiency. On the other hand, there is another problem in that power consumption increases due to activation of an unnecessary OS unless the sleep process is performed efficiently.
In addition, in a multi-OS environment of an image forming apparatus or the like that mounts a plurality of OSs, allocation of hardware resources is determined smoothly according to priority of an OS. However, when an OS (including applications such as PhotoShop (trademark; the same hereinbelow) that run on Windows (trademark; the same hereinbelow)) intended for general users used in recent years is adapted to be used in an image forming apparatus, since just maintaining the activation state thereof consumes many hardware resources, it is difficult to perform a print process stably just by changing the allocation of hardware resources. Although Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-060238 discloses an information processing apparatus having a power saving mode where only the first OS is activated, the information processing apparatus enters into the power saving mode if an event where a packet is not received, an event where an engine unit does not operate, or an event where an operation is not received from an operating unit is detected and continues for a predetermined period or longer, whereas the information processing apparatus does not enter into the power saving mode if any one of these operations is present. Thus, in the apparatus of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-060238, it is difficult to suppress consumption of hardware resources under the multi-OS environment and to secure a stable print process.
The invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a method of controlling the same capable of activating second to N-th (N is an integer of 2 or more) operating systems different from a first operating system and reducing the warm-up time due to the sleep process under a multi-OS environment to improve processing efficiency.
Another object of the invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a method of controlling the same capable of operating second to N-th (N is an integer of 2 or more) different from a first operating system that operates a control program for controlling the apparatus and allowing a stable print process using limited hardware resources.